Time is all we have
Assume we live to be eighty, we have about four thousand weeks to live.
Broadly speaking, time management isn't just a skill — it's the essence of life itself.
But the main question isn't how to extend life as long as possible, but how to live it all the way along.
21K days left for PJ — with luck!
Focus on essentials
The concept of time exists to support our minds in reasoning, measuring, categorizing, and understanding relative change.
Einstein explains it, the only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.
Time keeps our memories in context, and because we know time is limited we are forced to prioritize.
The main challenge of managing our limited time is deciding what not to do and how to feel at peace about not doing it.
More time is wasted doing things that don't matter than doing things inefficiently, making elimination the best optimization.
I tell myself, do less, just like Marcus Aurelius wrote to himself, if you seek tranquility, do what's essential. Do less, but better.
People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on.
But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are.
You have to pick carefully. I'm as proud of the things we haven't done as the things we have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things.
— Steve Jobs
Saying no doesn’t make you a bad person, it doesn’t make you selfish, it doesn’t make you ungrateful for the generosity you’ve received, and it doesn’t shut the door on serendipity and opportunity.
We can go at any moment, we treat our time as a gift and focus only on what’s essential.
Waste no time
All of us are short-lived creatures vulnerable to being struck down by disease or accident at any time, 40 years, 50 years, 60 years, 100 years, or even 110 years. These are all tiny numbers in the grand sweep of time.
Life is short, and we only have one, but the main question isn't how to extend life as long as possible, but how to live a life worth living all the way along, to live a life that you'd feel good about whenever it gets taken away.
Designing a life worth living became a hobby and a personal development system I started with a group of positive people that I met around the world.
How you live affects how long you live, and most people could do better, myself included.
Tracking and priorities
Where I dedicate my time and energy is the best description of my priorities.
I've been experimenting with productivity and tracking time for the past three years, here's my recommendation:
Not having time is one of the biggest excuses we use. Because we all know, when it's important enough we make time, if not we make an excuse.
Track your time meticulously for seven days.
You will be shocked at how much time flitters away doing things that don't create value.
You can treat time tracking as a habit for building momentum when you need accountability or as a quarterly exercise that you run for clarity when you need a picture of your time balance sheet. It depends on how much you want data.
There's no place to hide once you confront the data, where the hours are going, and how life is being lived.
Tracking time as a habit helped me manage priorities as much as it reminded me to relax and explore.
May, 2023. A random long weekend in Montréal, having more life to my days.
We can't add more days into our lives, but we can have more life into our days.
Do not take a minute of it for granted, remind yourself to live.
Your work will be endless, but your time is finite. You cannot limit the amount of work so you must limit your time.
Hours are the only thing you can manage.
— Kevin Kelly, 99 Additional Bits of Unsolicited Advice.
Think Week Q1 2024, Tokyo, Japan
Sources of wisdom
Paul Graham, Life is Short
Seneca, The shortness of life
